


The Ace in the Deck

by SisterToTheSilverSnitch



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Albus Dumbledore is a arse but so is Tom Riddle, Alternate Universe, Blood, Gangsters, Guns, Hostage!Harry, Kidnapping, M/M, Mobster!AU, The Potters are alive
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-07-31
Updated: 2017-04-27
Packaged: 2018-07-28 11:20:24
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Underage
Chapters: 10
Words: 19,286
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7638091
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SisterToTheSilverSnitch/pseuds/SisterToTheSilverSnitch
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Tom Riddle, one of the most feared men in the country. His widespread influences has left a lasting mark in the innocent and the underground. There was so much fear that Governor James Potter had to take matters into his own hands and collected a highly trained group of people to help put a stop to his terror and apprehend Riddle's men. <br/>  In a fit if rage, Tom orders the capture of James Potter most precious son, Harry Potter in return for the four followers the Governor managed to arrest. Can Harry survive the heartless monster long enough for his family's rescue, or will he forever be trapped and convicted within the walls of his own father's lies by the hand of the infamous Voldemort?</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> This is my first story so I'm a little new on how to work this thing. No hate please, criticism is welcomed. Let me know how well I'm doing.

Chapter I : Blood on the Street. 

Their screams could be heard ten blocks away if they had lived in the comfort of the suburbs. Instead, harsh cries of pain and torture sang into the late night of the secluded forest. The Longbottoms are, and always have been, a peaceful family that never bothered anyone and only wanted tranquility for the world. 

Sadly, that made them a target.

It was only a week ago when the infamous Mobster, Voldemort, had decided the fate of the small family. Kill them all; simple. It took a week for Bellatrix and Barty to come up with a plan to carry out their Lord's order. They knew the Longbottoms traditionally spend two weeks up in Scotland to visit old friends and enjoy some time to themselves. Except this year was a little different. 

For starters, their son, Neville, decided to stay behind in London to watch and support his friends getting prepared for next seasons tournament. Frank Longbottom was pleased that his only child was finally socializing with other children and allowed him to stay behind this year. Alice was pleased with Neville and reminded him that they will stay in touch every few days. Neville was excited and said his goodbyes at the airport before meeting up with his friend Harry Potter later that day to plan the next two weeks together. 

Six days later had Frank tired to a chair and was forced to watch as his beloved wife was slapped, punched, kicked and stabbed by the most insane woman alive, Bellatrix Lestrange. "S-Stop. . .ple-eas." He pleaded, throat raw from being repeatedly choked just until he stared to see black spots in his vision. 

Rodolphus gave Frank a casual glance, his fingers in the other man's hair tightening enough to make him wince. "Bella, there's no need to prolong this anymore than we need to." Though he didn't feel any remorse or regret for these people, he didn't see the need to make them suffer too long. It just waste time and energy. 

"Barty said we had two hours, love. I'm allowed to have a little fun," Bellatrix replied with her boot crushing the weaker woman's neck, smirking at the sharp gasp Alice gave. Just enough to hurt but not break. "Hey Raby! Found anything that our Lord would find interesting? Usefully maybe?" Alice tried to thrash away and breath but with one leg broken and both of her shoulders dislocated, there wasn't much she could do. 

Rabastan strolled into the room with a slight frown. In his hands were stacks of files and notebooks, ones Frank recognised that were stored away in his desk. "Nothing, just bullshite and journal entries. We should head straight over to their main housing, we'd poetically have better luck there." He glanced up and narrowed his eyes on his sister-in-law, "and Barty's two hours stared just over an hour ago so we really should wrap this up."

Rodolphus hummed and whipped out his Af1 "Strike One" and swiftly planted a bullet into Franks head. The smell of blood was quick to fill the room. "Bella, finish her, no more playing." He turned to Rabastan and jabbed his thumb towards the other room. "Get Barty, find out if he's figured out where the kid is. We're leaving in ten." Rabastan nodded but Bellatrix gave a dramatic sigh. 

"Ruin all of my fun, love." Despite their groups regular use of a pistol, Bellatrix stuck with her small blades. She took a second to look Alice in the eye before pulling out a butterflyknife and sticking it straight in her chest. 

Rabastan found Barty in the next room typing away on his laptop while nibbling on his thumbnail. "Pack up, big bro said we're leaving in ten." Barty threw his eyes up and gave a quick nod. "Found the kid?"

Barty licked his lips and closed the laptop. "He's not on the island. Probably still in London is my best bet." He stood and followed the red-head out to meet with the others. 

When the ten minutes were up the group of four were striding down the driveway; clean, packed and ready to report to their Lord. Since it was just after twelve-thirty at night they agreed to rest a few hours before making their trip back to London, hoping they could find out where the Longbottom heir could be if not with his family. 

~•°•°•~

In London, two boys were sleeping soundly after a long day of sports and games. Neville rolled over in the bed of the guest room he had been given to stay in for the two weeks while his family was away. He was nervous and anxious about the separation but after the first few days he'd became comfortable and actually enjoyed it. 

Across the room from Neville's was Harry Potter's room. This boy wasn't sleeping as well and was tossing and turning for the last few hours. Nightmares about death and murder clogged his mind, making him whimper in fear and guilt.


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I was honestly surprised at the quick responses I got from just one chapter. Thank you all for that and here we go for the next chapter. Things will be getting more intense by the next chapter so enjoy the calm before the storm, so to speak.

Chapter II: Dark Skys and Dreams

  The sky was overcast and the air held the smell of future rainfall. When Harry managed to roll out of bed he frowned at the deep coolness in his room. Not that it was uncommon for a day of overcast to make the air cooler but it was the sense of forbodding that made the fifteen-year-old-to-be shiver and pull the comforter tighter around his small body.

  Harry decided to shrug it off and continue getting ready for the day. He and his friends had decided they would spend the day relaxing and compare plans for the future after they graduate school. Harry finished dressing, ignoring the urge to try and brush the infinite curls his hair always seem to have, and headed toward the dinning room. The air was slightly warmer down the hallway but still managed to bring shivers to his small frame.

  "Morning Harry. Did you sleep well?" Lily Potter asked after placing two plates of pancakes and bacon on the table. Harry shrugged his shoulders and plopped into his seat. "Are you alright? "

  Harry rubbed his eyes from underneath his glasses and took a sip of his glass of orange juice his father placed before him. "Couldn't sleep well, kept dreaming," Harry paused to rethink his thoughts. "It was more like a nightmare but nobody I knew was in trouble. Just kept hearing a woman screaming and a man begging for help." Lily have her son a concern look.

  James Potter hummed and began to butter his toast. "That's disturbing. You may want to forget about it, it's summer break."

  Harry smiled and began to pile his plate with pancakes and eggs. "Fair enough. Is Neville still asleep?"

  "He wanted to call his parents before he ate breakfast so save some for him." Lily smiled. Satisfied, knowing where Neville was, Harry finished his plate and waited for his friend to appear. He didn't have to wait long until his slightly larger friend slowly walked into the room. "Hey, Neville. Hungry?"

  Neville held a tight frown on his face, clutching the phone in his hand. "Yeah. . ."

  "Are you alright?" James asked.

  "Nobody answered." He paused and took a deep breath. "So I tried to call again. . .but nobody answered. Then I tried Grammy to see if she heard from then today. She said. . ." Neville nervously began to fiddle with the phone. "She says Mum and Dad haven't called her in two days." He raised his eyes to meet each Potter at the table. "They never miss a day to call her. I'm worried, Harry"

  The silence that filled the room was thick and heavy. Lily gave her husband a strong look then jumped to her feet. "I'm going to call Ms. Mcgonagall and see if she can help. Neville, come with me dear." He followed Lily quietly, leaving the Potter men behind.

  Harry turned to his father, hands tightly gripping the edge of the table. "Dad? The Longbottoms are going to be fine, right?"

  "Of course, Harry. I'm sure that it's only an electrical problem, something with a powerline maybe." Before James could finish there was a knock on the front door and he excused himself to go and answer it.

  Soon Harry was along to his thoughts, the flashes of the nightmare he had kept filing his mind. What was happening? Refusing to stay like this, Harry got up and searched for his mother and Neville.

~•°•°•~

  _"Hmmm. . .so the boy wasn't there. Anything that could be of use to us?"_

_"Sorry but not really, unless you want a journal about the life within the walls of a Government faculty through the eyes of a forty year old man, volumes one, two and three? It's far more pathetic than you can even imagine."_

_". . . Have you gone through the journal?"_

_"Took a brief glance through it honesty. Nothing caught my eye, it just mentions the family life of the other brown-nosers."_

_"What families? Give me names Rabastan."_

_"Um, well there is the Weasleys, stupidly large in numbers, the one Black rebel, Lovegoods, Thomas, Mclaggen, the giant Hagrid, Creevey, the Potters-"_

_". . ."_

_". . .I'll just get right on reading these books, shall I?"_

_"Yes, Rabastan, anything and everything that I can use for my benefit better be found tonight."_

_"Of course, my Lord."_

The phone call ended with nothing else said. The man that most knew and feared as Voldemort leaned back in his seat with one hand resting against his chin and the other lightly grasping the tumbler of whisky. Voldemort was both pleased and displeased with how his course of action turned out.

  Although he had expected his men, plus Bellatrix, to easily take out the Longbottoms, what he hadn't expected was the lone boy to separate from his parents. The boy was so disgustingly coddled that he was partially surprised they weren't physically sewn together.

  Still, the main objection was obtained, the smaller details could be worked through later. With the Longbottoms gone (mostly), Voldemort now had sent a very clear message to Albus Dumbledore.

  ~I'm back, and I'm out for blood.

The next subject on his list was James Potter.


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay, this took forever stupidly enough. The chapter had deleted so I had to rewrite it. Now that's over I'd like to thank some of you who pointed out a name error from the first chapter and I'm gonna fix that after this is posted. Thanks for the kudos and comments! I'll update again as soon as I can, and hopefully without all the trouble.

Chapter III: Flashing Bullets

 

Two more days passed and Harry and the rest of the teens were still given no explanation to the Longbottoms disappearance, until the late evening on the third day. Albus walked into Neville's guest room he slept in with slumped shoulders and hands tightly clasped together on his front. 

  "Neville, my boy, we need to talk." Neville's eyes lowered to the ground, already dreading the worst. "We found Frank and Alice Longbottom, we got word of possible suspects and already sent a group after them. I'm so sorry."

  Neville dropped his head, tears falling freely down his face, the sobs shaking his whole body. A few seconds passed and finally a scream tore through his body, haunting the Potter's household for many years to come. 

~•°•°•~

  Rabastan couldn't belive the words he was reading from the small book in the bedroom of some rundown motel. The Potters, or James Potter in particular, had a good size history with skeletons in the closet it would seem. He must get this to his lord immediately!

  While wrapping the multiple journals carefully in his arms and ran outside where his brother and Barty were having a few coffin nails. "Guys, check this out. Turns out our Lord was right in more ways than one. The Potters are filthy buggers."

  Rodolphus raised a single brow and accepted one of the books while Barty took the other. Rabastan waited a moment add the older two thumbed through a few pages. Barty paused with his eyes wide before he looked up. "This actually happened? James Potter?"

  "Yes! It makes sense, it's a wonder when nobody questioned it. He isn't the only guilty one either." Rabastan quickly replied. 

  Rodolphus rubbed his jaw and gave a quite chuckle. "Change of plans. We leave tonight, the Lord must get a hold of these as soon as possible." He glanced over to Barty, "call Antonin and tell him to get his arse here now. Raby, get Bella to pack everything up." Rabastan nodded and went back inside and left the journals to Barty. 

  Barty pulled out his phone. The call rang twice before a deep voice answered. "You better have a fucking good reason of waking me at this hour boy."

  "Oh, put your cock away and listen to this." Barty waited a moment until he got a grunt the signaled to continue. "So, you know that Rabastan found some books about a few certain people, right? Well, it turns out James fucking Potter is the sole cause of thousands of deaths from that weird outbreak a few years back."

  The other end was silent of a moment until a, "you're pulling my fucking leg." Rang back. 

  Barty gave a slight craze giggle. "Nope! We need to leave the city tonight, we had no problems leaving the island so we should be in the clear. Just get here as soon as you can."

  "Fine, but you owe me a round of whisky."

  "Done! See you in thirty." Barty hung up before Antonin could reply and went inside to meet up with the others. Bellatrix was pissed and sneered at Rodolphus with her and crossed like a child. 

  "I don't give a damn! I want to get my beauty sleep." Rabastan made a voicing noise behind her back and Barty had to hide a snicker with a cough, which caught their attention. 

  "Antonin is on his way." Bella's sneer deepened. "Get over yourself, we need to go now. He'll be here soon."

  Ignoring his wife, Rodolphus grabbed their bags. "Once we bring the Lord the journals you can sleep all you bloody want, until then shut up." He spoke in such a calm matter that it only pissed Bellatrix off more. 

  Barty still clutched the small books to his body as he slung his bag over his shoulder, pausing when he heard a car pull in. "That must be him now." Rabastan was closest to the door so he opened it to slowly close it again. "What is it?"

  "That wasn't Antonin."

  Bella sighed dramatically. "Well, who was it then?"

  Rabastan gave a heavy frown and glanced through the curtain gap. "The police." That sobered everyone up. "How did they-"

  "Doesn't matter," Rodolphus cut in, "it looks like we'll have to fight our way out of this. Barty, still have the journals?" He nodded and showed the books hiding under the coat he pulled to his chest. "Good, call Antonin again and get out the back window and pass them to him. They obviously know that four of us are here, better let them think that they got us all."

  All four understood that they may die tonight but were willing to take that risk for their Lord. Barty moved to bathroom and quickly made the call with his laptop while the boys, and lady, got their weapons ready. Bella stood on the other side of the window from Rabastan while Rodolphus began to load his gun by the door. Barty began to wipeout all video footage within a half a mile. 

  "We're going to hold them off until Antonin comes to grab the journals. You know what to do." The other two nodded and began to wait. Moments later there was a knock on the door. 

  Rabastan took a quick glance through the curtain gap. "I counted four from this end."

  "There's another five by the cars, maybe more," Bellatrix observed. 

  Rodolphus silently cursed. "They certainly didn't take any chances." Another knock interrupted them. 

  "Hello? Anybody there?" A voice asked from the other side of the door.

  Barty peeked out from the bathroom with the phone to his ear and the laptop to his chest. "He'll be here in a minute but the window is not even a foot big enough. Nobody can fit through it." Well that put a damper on things. 

  "Tell him to drive around back. Pass the books to him and tell him to get the fuck out of here." Barty nodded as another knock came.

  "If you don't answer the door we are forced to use force!"

  "Shite." Rabastan murmured. With a shared look between all three he raised his pistol to the slip of the curtain and pointed it at the closest body to the window, taking a shot. The body dropped instantly which set the rest of the officers into motion. Rodolphus threw the door open and shot the officer that was knocking only seconds ago. Bellatrix followed Rodolphus from behind and began to throw small but sharp daggers to the cops by the cars. 

  Barty was nervously locking his lips, feeling the anxious twitch his body would have under stress coming. He needed only seconds to pass the books. As he waited he heard one of the Lestrange brothers grunt in pain and mentally cursed Antonin six different ways from Sunday. 

  "Barty? You there lad?" 

  Finally! "Here! Took you long enough!" Barty passed the books over to the older male through the small bathroom window. "Take these to the Lord as quick as you can. Tell him our cover was blown."

  Antonin nodded. "You promise stay alive."

  "Not making any promises." Without wasting another second, Antonin ran off to his car and drove off. Barty's smile stretched across his face, the anticipation for the fall of the government was making him giddy. 

  "Hands up!" It seems that back up came faster than they expected, he thought. Slowly, Barty raised his hands to just have them roughly cuffed behind his back. "Shite, it's Crouch's son."

  "So, this is where he ran off to, huh?" Another voice wheezed. Barty didn't care though, he completed his mission. Nothing mattered now. 

~•°•°•~

  Harry sat next to Neville at the police station while his parents talked to Albus Dumbledore. They got a call this morning that they arrested four people suspected to be the ones who killed the Longbottoms. So Harry's parents decided they needed to see the 'monsters' themselves. Poor Neville just wanted this nightmare to be over. 

  "What a ruddy summer, huh Harry?" Harry cringed internally at the miserable voice.

  The smaller teen reached over to grasp Neville's upper arm, trying to ground his friend. "I know I've said this before, but I am so sorry. But you're still here, your parents need you to be strong and get through this." Neville lifted his head enough that his eyes met Harry's. "Do not forget that you are not alone. Me, Hermione, Ron, Ginny, Luna, all of our friends are here for you. Focus on that."

  He nodded and sat up a bit straighter, which Harry would call that a win. Several more moments passed as they waited for the adults to finish conversing with themselves. Thousands of questions kept running through his mind concerning Neville and the situation, the main question was 'why?' What did the Longbottoms do to deserve this?

  "My, my, such a broody day it seems." The voice spoke just a few feet from them. Harry's head snapped up to see a devilishly handsome man starting at the two teens with a well masked expression. "Would you boys like some water?"

  Neville began to sink into his seat, obviously nervous of the stranger. That made Harry frown, Neville was just starting to get back together and now this total stranger just broke him again. "If you don't mind, we've had a rough week so go and bugger off."

  The stranger raised a brow and stared intently at Harry. He noticed that the older man had smooth, black hair and whisky colored eyes that almost seemed to flash red when Harry snarked at him. His dark green suit had fit his body like a glove and gave off a air of superiority. "Well, don't you have a mouth?"

  Before Harry to reply with something witty a voice shouted at them from down the hall. "Tom, my boy, it's good to see you again!" Dumbledore briskly strolled up to the three with a strong look. "What brings you back to London? I was under the impression you were traveling."

  Harry could tell that Dumbledore was frustrated at this Tom fellow, and that kinda pleased Harry. "I am, I stopped by when I heard that four people were arrested unlawfully last night."

  Harry's parents shared a look and glanced at Neville. Albus took a deep breath and clasped his hands. "Tom, these people shot and killed six officers. And they are suspected to be the murders of the Longbottoms."

  Tom smirked and adjusted his watch on his wrist. "Yes, suspected but not proven. Innocent until proven guilty Dumbledore, you yourself have recited that old quote for decades. Plus, both parties are both wounded with bullets. Your only standing leg is a 'He said, they said' conviction. You cannot keep my clients here unless you have any evidence that they are your murders, and started the shootout." Harry continued to stare at this man in horror. They really couldn't let these people go right? "Well, Dumbledore? Do you have any evidence? Pictures? Video?"

  The old man sighed quietly and shook his head. "No, we do not."

  The bastard smirked. "So, just the word of your men who just want to close this case as soon as possible. Unprofessional, Dumbledore. Well, what are you waiting for?"

  "Sir! You can't just-" James tried to reason but Albus stopped him with a raise of his hand. 

  "He is right, James." He paused and began to stroke his beard. "I must say, you've come a long way to become quite the lawyer haven't you, Tom Riddle."


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ta-da! Another update for you! I got a new app that let me type out chapters easier, so yay me! Anyway, here we go~

Chapter IV: No Mercy

Tom Riddle

  Harry had heard of this man before; his father had complained enough that it was a familiar name. Most of the time it was just about how frustrating or manipulative he was around the courtroom. Which Harry thought was ironic since the man is a lawyer.

  "I expect my clients to be released within the next hour, I do have other places to be." Both James and Lily were fuming at Tom but Dumbledore seemed to stay in better control. Tom then glanced back at Harry and gave a sly wink. "Lovely meeting you, Harry Potter. May we meet again, on better terms of course."

  Tom turned a second later and walked down the hallway, disappearing out of sight. Harry's dad sighed and nervously rubbed his hands together. "Sir, are we really going to let them go?"

  Dumbledore looked at the teens briefly. "I'm afraid Tom's right, we have no evidence to convict them. We can't lawfully lock them here just on instinct and hope."

  James cursed and Neville looked as if he was on the verge of tears. Lily came over to gently rub his back while James faced Harry. "If you ever see him again I want you to stay far away from him. He's dangerous and I don't trust him."

  Harry just nodded, though he got a feeling that he would be seeing Tom again soon.

~•°•°•~

  Such fire in those eyes, Tom thought. He was mildly surprised how quick the boy would come to defend the weak child. He must get that fire from his mother; after reading those journals only added to this belief. He had spent the whole night reading the marked pages that Rabastan had made which got the job done faster.

  Tom was midly surprised when he woke up to Antonin pounding on his door with the infamous journals. After a quick summary of the previous hours before he got to Tom's private home, he sent Antonin off and didn't bother trying to get some rest, just spent the night reading and preparing for his future encounter with the old goat, Albus Dumbledore.

  To say he was frustrated that four of his best men were captured in one night would be a fairly large understatement. He was fuming, demanding how could they be so reckless that they were not only found out but caught too. Antonin explained that they believed they were in the clear. Someone had ratted them out and now Tom needed to find the unlucky fool who would face an untimely death for the betrayal.

  There were a small handful of people who were aware of his plan of attack on the Longbottoms, now he just needed to sort them out. After, of course, getting back at Dumbledore's lack of respect and possibly stealing one of his men to use as a spy. Though, he didn't have proof of this, he was almost positive Dumbledore was behind this mess.   
    
  The first thing he would need to do was converse with the Malfoy elder, Lucius, and have his opinion on the possible rat.

  Tom stood by the doors of the overly large mansion that was a few centuries old and gave a sharp knock. He only waited a moment until the door creaked open and a small, shriveled man beckoned him in. "I assume you are here to see the Master?"

  "Yes, this is a matter of great importance." The wrinkled servant gave a nod and led him inside through the house until they reached the office. Tom gave the servant a careless wave before stomping into the office. He spotted the older blonde man who was flipping through papers until the loud sound of his doors being thrown open forced him out of his seat.

  "Oh! My Lord! What do I owe the honor of having you here this afternoon." Tom forced himself not to roll his eyes at the hurried garble that spilled from the blonde.

  "I'm afraid the Longbottom plan didn't go as smoothly as we had planned."

  Lucius blinked before seating himself more comfortably. "This can't be good." Tom quickly went through the events of last night to his encounter with the Potters and Dumbledore this morning. Lucius sighed, understanding where he Lord was going with this. "So you suspect there is a turncoat in our inner circle."

  Tom smirked and leaned on the dark, oak desk. "You guessed right, Lucius. Besides you and me, there are five others that could be betraying us. Fenrir Greyback, Igor Karkaroff, Severus Snape, Yaxley, and Regulus. Fenrir is too much of a loyal dog to ever double cross me. And Yaxley had nothing to gain from betrayal." Tom paused and waved his hand to Lucius. "So, who do you think is our rat?"

  Lucius leaned back in his seat and took a second to think over the other three possibilities. "I've known Severus since we were young children, betraying you would be a strike against our long friendship, something he would never risk. Besides, he hates Dumbledore almost as much as you do." Tom mulled this over and gave a sharp nod. "Regulus, regardless of his young age, is smart and already had lost so much. His parents are dead and his only brother locked away forever. We are all he has to hold on to."

  Tom gave a menacing grin at the blonde. "Which leaves Igor, he has been having trouble with keeping his own boys under control and safe lately yes?" Lucius nodded, unsure where his Lord was going with this. "Everyone knows that my four greatest assassins can kill in any time frame I give them. They are a force to greatly fear, but if they somehow got temporarily incarcerated then that would give someone enough free time to make new "friends" and protection."

  "Bloody hell." Lucius may have never liked the old grouch but it was still a blow to have someone he knew to stoop so low. "What shall we do about him, my Lord?"

  "Have Fenrir notified of the recent events and inform him that he had free reign to Igor. My only two requests are that he stays alive and that he brings his eldest into my. . .company. That'll, force him to play my cards my way."

  He nodded. "I'll send word immediately. What is your next move?"

  The dark-haired man gave a low chuckle. "I'm going to teach the Potters a lesson about what will happen if they try to interfere with my men again." Tom then turned and headed for the door. "I'm going to take what is most important to James Potter and use it against him. The only heir, Harry Potter."

~•°•°•~

  Harry watched as Neville's grandmother fused over him next to their car. She had called hours ago to inform him that they were going to a house near the beach, having round the clock security until school starts up again. Neville felt bad that he was leaving only days away from Harry's birthday but Harry made sure to reassure him, his safety was far more important.

  Harry saw as the last of the Longbottoms waved before getting in the car and drive down the long driveway. After spending most of the day yesterday in the police station they were exhausted and voted for a day solely on sleeping. They only woke up a little over an hour ago.

  "Harry, dear? Do you want a snack, tea maybe?" The soft tones of his mother's voice helped the boy relax.

  "No, I think I'm going to head over to the Weasleys and hang out with Ron for a bit." He could tell his mother was nervous and smiled gently. "Give them a call, tell them I'm on my way and when I get there I'll call you, maybe even spend the night."

  Lily sighed and cupped her son's face with her small hands. "Be safe, Harry. I love you."

  Hugging his mother tightly to him, Harry whispered, "Love you too, Mum." After awhile he let go and headed down the driveway. The Weasleys lived about a mile down the road in a small cottage that barely fit all nine people. Everyone couldn't help bit love that cozy little house.

  Harry stuck close to the side of the road and watched as the occasional car drove by. He tried to clear his thoughts but couldn't bleep bit think about that man at the station.

  Tom Riddle.

  The name alone nearly gave Harry the shivers. Putting aside the dark aura and dictator attitude, he was a very handsome man; and it was clear Tom knew it too. The man was a teenage fantasy for girls and boys! It still frustrated Harry that he still couldn't get that grin and wink out of his head.

  Lost in his thoughts Harry didn't hear the black car slowly pulling up next to him until the click of a door opening caught his attention and he was yanked into complete darkness.

 


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Heya! This was quick right? Kinda? Anyway, we finally are getting a little Tom and Harry scene but the next chapter, maybe two, are going to be mostly Frank Longbottom journal entry. Haven't typed that up yet but I know what I'm going to write.   
>  Alright, here's the next part boys and girls. Leave comments and kudos if you please~

Chapter V: Snakes Den  

 

  Bloody hell, his head hurt. Harry flinched as another wave of aching pain throbbed at the back of his head, nearly making him lose the food in his stomach. While waiting for the pain to die down, Harry slowly opened his eyes to see where he was. The cot was cold and uncomfortable underneath him with no pillow to comfort his head or blanket to warm his small body. There was no windows but a small lamp was lit on the other side of the room, giving the place a soft glow.

  Harry attempted to sit up but cursed when the pain cane back with twice the power. He tried to wait a second and see if he could remember anything, but all that came to him was blank. Harry took a deep breath of the stale air around him to calm his rapidly, beating heart and figure out what was going on.

  After a moment of blissful silence, Harry finally managed to sit up in the cot. His eyes glanced around until they landed on a shadowed figure facing away from the lamp. It's head turned slightly towards him before a low voice penetrated the mocking silence.

  "I see you are awake. You may want to take the pill on the table there for your head. They tend to forget their own strength more often than not." Harry glanced over to his side to see a small side table with a glass of water and two white pills on a small napkin.

  The teen frowned and sneered that the mystery man. "If you think that I'm going to just eat or drink anything you give me then you are ridiculous."

  The figure gave a small chuckle. "I understand your concerns but believe me, if the Lord wanted you dead, you would be." Regardless of this, Harry still didn't accept the pill. "Very well, follow me. The Lord is waiting for you."

  Harry slowly stood from the cold cot, his eyes not leaving from the man. He stood up as well and walked in the light long enough to see he had dark hair and was fit. A fighter most likely. Harry followed him to the door, he didn't even notice was there, and walked out into the lightly lit hallway.

  The walls were made of concrete and seemed to be stained with what Harry hoped was red paint. There were series of other doors that had heavy padlocks, gleaming under the pale light of the bulbs above their heads. At the end if the hallway was a slightly bigger door with a slot that was eye level with the older male.

  He knocked three times and the slot opened. "The Potter boy is awake."

  A voice on the other side giggled. "Is he? About time." The slot closed and the whole door opened. A pale woman with wild hair and eyes appeared. "Our Lord has been waiting long enough. You know where to take him, Dolohov."

  "Watch your tongue, bitch. This way, Potter." Harry followed him closely as he stared at the clearly insane woman grinning at him back. He'd do anything to never see that woman again. "When you meet or Lord you will keep your head down. Speak only when spoken to. Answer him with a yes 'my Lord', and do watch your tone."

  "Why am I here?" He cut in before Dolohov could continue further.

  "I do not know, I did not ask. It's not my place." While he was speaking Harry realised that he wasn't paying attention to where they were going and now he knew his senses were lost. "Here," he pointed to a set of black, double doors with snakes etched into the wood, "knock and walk in when the Lord permits it."

  Fighting against the childish urge to stick his tongue at the older man, Harry did as told. He knocked twice and crossed his arms, ignoring the returning headache. It seemed like an hour passed before he finally got an answer. "Enter." Yeah, that wasn't oppressing at all.

  Harry slowly opened the door and was surprised at how well furnished the room was, though it was very halloween style. He stepped in and closed the door, glancing around and taking in the new room. Bookcases hugged each wall, leaving only a little space for the two windows. There was a fireplace just across the room with a long coffee table and a lounge chair that faced away from Harry.

  He wasn't sure what to do so he took a couple steps forward and waited, expecting this 'Lord' to be sitting in the only chair. Minutes went by and Harry's nervousness shifted to irritation. As he was about to speak a low hiss caught his attention to the table. On top of the table was a large python that now was staring him down.

  "Don't mind her, Nagini's just hungry." That voice, so familiar. The snake, Nagini, turned and slithered over the side towards the lounge chair to rest over the back. Harry couldn't help but swallow the heavy fear in his throat. "Come, we have much to discuss, Harry Potter."

  There, the way he said his name! It couldn't be, but Harry would never forget the way his name rolled off the man's tongue like liquid silver. Harry fixed himself to take another handful of steps until the fire was lighting his whole form. "Why am I here, Mr. Riddle."

  The older man chuckled and stood from the chair, ignoring the hissing snake. His black hair, slicked back, glowed from the fire. His suit was removed and now only a dark blue shirt and tight slacks remained. Riddle was still the dark and imposing figure that Harry had seen only days ago.

  "In surprised you can tell who I am by just the sound of my voice." He turned and Harry finally saw his face, sharp and unfortunately, attractive. "You're either very good at paying attention, or you didn't stop thinking about me."

  Harry ignored the flush that rose on his cheeks and balled his hands into fists. "Shut up! Why am I here?!"

  Riddle frowned. "Watch how you speak to me, boy. I have more power than you'll ever encounter, I am to be respected." He spoke in a deadly quite that made Harry flinch. "Come closer, we have much to discuss tonight."

  Harry licked his lips and took three more steps and stood his ground. He wasn't going to get any closer to this man if he could help it. Riddle seemed to know what Harry was thinking and chuckled again.

  "Do not worry, I don't bite." Harry somehow doubted this. "Have a seat, your head must be throbbing by now. I apologize for Rodolphus, his strength is sometimes uncontrolled."

  Harry looked over the lounge chair and internally moaned at the leather cushions that seemed to beckon him closer. His head did hurt so he sucked in his pride and carefully say down, half expecting ropes or chains to appear out of nowhere and hold him down. When nothing happened Harry took in a long breath and looked up at Riddle. "Why am I here?" He asked as politely as he could.

  Riddle smirked, which made Harry's insides jump a little, and moved to the banister above the fireplace. He poured a dark auburn liquid into a crystal tumbler and took a sip. "I'll answer your question when I want to. " He walked round the lone chair slowly and carefully brushed against the snake Harry had forgotten was right above him.

  He really trapped himself.

  "How much does your father speak politics with you, Potter?" That was slightly unexpected.

  "Uh, not. . .not much. He's always busy so we don't see him much." Which was true, his dad worked long hours and sometimes the whole weekend.

  Riddle hummed and took another sip. "So you two don't talk, how sad." He was staring to piss Harry off. "So you don't know what your father and his colleagues do behind ivory doors? I would think that James Potter would happily retell his days as a hero to the country. A bit. . .secretive, don't you think?"

  "Like I said, we don't talk much because he's always busy." Which sounded lame even to him, but what was he getting at?

  Riddle placed the tumbler on the table before moving down the line of bookcases. After a moment he grabbed three, small books and walked over to Harry. "Do you like to read?"

  "Yes?" Harry's brows knitted together.

  "Here, read these over the next couple of days. Then, we can really talk." The books were gently placed in his smaller hands. When Harry thought Riddle would pull away he only got closer until the man's lips were barely brushing the shell of his ear. "Keep an open mind, Harry Potter. There is no good or evil in this world. Only power, and those too weak to seek it."

  Harry had a good idea of where Riddle stood in that.


	6. Chapter 6

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Hey, I know it's been awhile but I'm still alive, just lazy to be honest. I made the chapter longer to please you all but it still didn't cover everything I wanted it to. So I'll be adding it to the next chapter, hopefully.  
>  The underlined sections are parts written from the journals. I wrote the's parts as I would write in my own journal, that I do have. Frank Longbottom writes not often, every few weeks to months at a time, just to give you an idea. I added Alice's pregnancy time line with Neville just to give you an idea of the progress Frank was making during his work.   
>  I'll answer any questions you have if you are stuck somewhere. I tried to make it as easy to flew add I could. Pity me plz!   
>  Thanks for the kudos and comments! ♡

Chapter VI: Dead Man's Last Words

 

  It's strange how three, little books could make a boy so nervous. Harry tried to push away Riddle's last words in his head but they remained a dull whisper in the back of his mind. After he had been excused, Dolohov had escorted him back down the weird hallway and to the windowless room.

  He sat currently in the seat that Dolohov had been sitting in earlier and looked up at said man. "How long have I been in here?"

  The man hesitated for a second. "Over half a day. It's about two hours till midnight." That meant Harry's birthday would be only hours away. Where were his parents? Do they know what happened to him? They had to be looking for him, right?

  Harry didn't realize that Dolohov had left and now Harry sat alone in the room with only a small lamp that was barely able to light the room enough for him to read. Taking in a deep breath, Harry opened the first book and stopped. There, at the top of the page was, Frank Longbottom. How did he get these?!

  Pushing those thoughts aside Harry flipped the page and began to read.

~•°•°•~

      Journal entry 1:  
    
  I find myself having the need to write in a journal just to release the pent up stress I have achieve in only a year. I've known not only Albus Dumbledore but the Potters and Lupins, among many others, since grade school so it came to no surprise that we would all find ourselves here, pushing pencils.

  It was a pleasant surprise that we would all work together to protect and help the country we love, though I could do without all the paperwork. Alice had recently became pregnant so that was another blessing. I'm going to be a father soon!

  Back to why I have started this journal, the work that I've had started has began to take its toll so Alice suggested that I write my thoughts to ease my mind. I'm not sure but I'm willing to try just to make her happy. We recently had a large amount of immigrants move to Britain from between a family of two people to so much as ten. I've asked Dumbledore what this was all about and he only told me, "They wish to walk into the sun and away from the shadows" which could really mean anything.

  All I know is that is more work for me and my office workers to find available homes for them all, now we are in limited space.

  These immigrants traveled from mostly Russia and Germany, though there are smaller numbers from smaller countries. I got curious about this large import of people and asked James Potter about the situation but never got a straight answer.

  No matter, maybe there was a spreading illness or lack of work. Either way I'm happy to help these people and find them homes.

~•°•°•~

  Harry blinked at the first entry and frowned. He never did learn what the Longbottoms job was, only that he worked with his dad and Sirius and Remus. He sighed and turned the page to continue.

~•°•°•~

      Journal entry 2:  
    
  One problem was finally solved after a few months of organizing and finding places for these people to live. Now there is the problem of them finding work. Most of these people don't speak a second language so it is harder on them. I brought this to Dumbledore's attention yesterday, strangely, he did not seem shocked.

  Dumbledore told me that he would think on a solution and if I had an idea that I could bring it up to him. It would be easier if we could just hire a group of people to teach these immigrants basic English, but we don't have many speakers of multiple languages that could help them.

  I had hoped to run into Dumbledore today and see if he had thought of anything but every time would spot him, he was conversing with James and dissappear seconds later in a separate room. Perhaps he was asking for James' opinion and maybe get an idea from him. I'll see if I can catch a moment with Dumbledore tomorrow again. We are running out of time and I can't do much else until I can find work for these people.

~•°•°•~

      Journal entry 3:

  It's been months and we are still lacking on possible work besides manual labor. We gathered some donations to help provide food but we can only do so much. It's been stressing me out, though the writing does help me some.

  Alice had began to show now. Her small belly had began to get round, I'm too excited. Mother has  been calling every other day asking how Alive has been doing and if she has been following her advice to take it easy. Even though it's still early in the pregnancy I can't help but worry too. Just yesterday I rushed up to Alive to help her up the porch steps, got the dirtiest look for it too.

~•°•°•~

      Journal entry 4:

  I belive we have finally came up with a solution now. It was actually James Potter who gave the idea today while we were at a meeting. Our military is small and is lacking in new recruits, we decided that those willing to join our military will get benefits and housing for their whole family. We agree that we would never force any of them to join but we believe that these people will be more than willing to do their part.

  I have my assistants working on filing and sending out letters in the appropriate languages during the week. By the end of the next month we should be getting in some responses. Which means more work of me but I'm willing to put up with it.

~•°•°•~

  Harry took a break and marked the page before closing the book and leaned against the wall. He didn't understand why Riddle wanted him to read these books so much. He is halfway through the first one and nothing of importance had been written down. Was Riddle just messing with his head? Planting doubts in his own head about Dad and the government?

  The teenager leaned over to take a sip of water and got comfortable again. He knew that he could finish all three books tonight, but he would be bloody tired by tomorrow. Without wasting another second he opened the book again and read.

~•°•°•~

      Journal entry 5:

  It was incredible! The amount of people responding to our offer was almost instantly that nearly seventy percent of all immigrants were willing to join the military. There was even some questions about joining the medical field ranks. I'll be bringing this up to Dumbledore and Lupin tomorrow if I get a chance. Lupin specializes mostly with organizing the hospitals and health care treatments for Britain.

  This was such wonderful news that when I informed Alive I got a bit ahead of myself and hugged her a bit too tight. I then became scared that our child may have been hurt but she reassured me that the baby was fine.

  Speaking of, we're due to visit the doctor for a checkup to see what our baby is. I can't decided personally. Alice doesn't care either way but she will slip up and refer the child as 'he' or 'him' when we talk about it. Well, they do say that mothers have that natural intuition.

~•°•°•~

      Journal entry 6:

  It's a boy! I want to write more but I must inform everyone! I just wanted to take a second to mark this moment down! Alice is silently laughing next to me as she watches this.

~•°•°•~

      Journal entry 7:

  I haven't written anything in almost a year now. Been so busy that I actually forgot I owned a journal. The plan to have the immigrants join the military was so successful it was almost like magic.

  Our son, Neville Longbottom, was born only months ago, feels like yesterday. Though I miss sleep I can't imagine living a life without him or Alive. It was ironic that James' firstborn was born just after us; Harry Potter. He is almost as adorable as Neville, but of course I'm bias.

  One of the most recent news was a advanced soldier moving up in the ranks pretty quickly. Even this soldier caught Sirius' attention, and he's never impressed with anything. But, well see who he is and how far he will go.

~•°•°•~

  That was it for the first book. Harry placed it off to the side with a faint smile. He remembered how Frank would always compare the birthdays and the similarities between the boys.

  Taking a deep sigh Harry reached for the next book and began to read more.

~•°•°•~

      Journal 2 entry 1:

  We've been told that one soldier has risen above the rest and continues to grow stronger. A man by the name of Fenrir Greyback, older than me by five years and apparently had even frightened most of our commanders just by his sheer size alone. I haven't had the chance to meet him in person yet but Dumbledore mentioned that Greyback had the potential to become a general.

  I'm not too sure on that but we will see I suppose.

~•°•°•~

      Journal 2 entry 2:

  He is big! I finally met the everyone has been whispering about and dear lord he's big. Fenrir Greyback must've come from some distant race of giants; standing at almost seven feet tall and has weights two-hundred and fifty pounds of pure muscle. I shiver at just the thought of him.

  Dumbledore had decided to test Greyback's, and a group of men to follow, leadership in some secret mission. I wasn't there to hear about it but did get some rumors that the group of one-hundred men, including Greyback, are going to fly back to Germany with some packages of sorts.  Wasn't told what it was they were delivering but I'm not too worried about it.

  The whole trip should take only a couple weeks by airplane. I assume that the packages contain vaccines and supplies. There was a whisper of a disease that makes the host inhuman had been popping up in various places. Don't know what is made of or if it is even a real thing but I feel sorry for those who do have it.

  Anyway, Dumbledore and Sirius wanted to test and see how well these soldiers do with a simple shipping mission. I think they will do well.

~•°•°•~

      Journal 2 entry 3:

  Neville had begun to crawl now. Mother fawns over him so much, just yesterday she wouldn't leave anywhere around the house without my son on her hip at least. Alice, I know, secretly loves being able to take a moments rest and have someone else watch Neville.

  Lately he's been making all kinds of cooing sounds and the Potter's boy mumbles constant from what I've heard. I can already see the boys now, running around and going to school together. My dear Alice gives me the stink eye whenever I mention Neville growing up. It's kind of funny to watch.

~•°•°•~

      Journal 2 entry 4:

  The group we sent out recently came back today; it had taken longer than was expected. I was informed that it was successful, even though I knew very little about it, but I am relieved all the same.

  I'm not sure what Dumbledore has planned for them now but in sure I'll hear about it later. Next week we are planning on building some more apartments on the outskirts of cities all over Britain. It gives these immigrants some space and time to adjust and more options to work for themselves. These apartments are near, if not on, open fields that we allow for them to grow their own crops.

  I was I quite excited by this! By this time next year they can begin to develop their own markets and make a living for their own. And this way they can slowly learn English as well. They'll be living comfortably within a few years, and that puts my mind at ease.

~•°•°•~

      Journal 2 entry 5:

  I think something is happening. I overheard Remus Lupin talk about the large amount of children being sent to emergency care; over forty these last two weeks. Strangely, all of them were the immigrant children.

  My heart clenched when I heard about this and couldn't help but think of my little Neville, he'll be a year old in a few months. I couldn't hear what these children were being sent for but I hope that it is nothing too serious.

  The plan for the apartments is moving along as planned and will be filled by the beginning of July. A little late for most crops but Dumbledore believes that they will make it through the coming winter. If not we can give them some more aid. Now if we can help the children, that will help me sleep through these next week's.

~•°•°•~

  No, Frank Longbottom couldn't be writing about the outbreak of Clinical Lycanthropy. But it sounds about right.

  Harry sucked in a deep breath and remembered when Sirius would get that haunting look in his eyes when Harry asked about it once, or when someone would bring it up. Remus had caught it while he was helping treat children when Harry was still a baby; he was never the same since.

  He had seen the look of confusion and the uncontrollable rage in his eyes once. Harry never feared Remus, he was one of the few that was able to get treatment and control himself, mostly. It's a rare occasion that he slips up. Harry never got the full story and to be honest, he was scared to.

  After talking a moment to collect he thoughts Harry sat up in the chair and opened the small book.

~•°•°•~

      Journal 2 entry 6:

  It's worse than I feared. Clinical Lycanthropy. How all of these children could suddenly develop such a dangerous and serious condition.

  I don't even know how to describe the fear that has clawed is way into my heart and mind.

  How did this happen?

  How is it spreading?

  Can we treat it?

  I don't even know anymore.

~•°•°•~

  That was the last thing written in the second book, even though there was still some blank pages. The young boy, slightly unnerved, tossed the second book on the bed and faced the third one a way look. He took a second to scrub at his eyes and thought back at what he remembered about the outbreak so many years ago.

  A couple hundred people were diagnosed, about sixty people got violent enough that they either killed themselves, or had to be put down like the animals they thought they were.

  It was a horrifying thought, and Harry never wants to think about it. Nobody really figured out what triggered this out break of the psychosis, a rumor was that a group of Germans had infected the water supply with some virus of the poor that attacked the nerves of the brain. But that was one theory.

  Harry decided that he had enough for one night and jumped on the crappy cot, mindful of the book at the edge next to his feet. He was going to get some sleep, weather Riddle likes it or not.   
 

    
 

 


	7. Chapter 7

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Woo-hoo! Another chapter, and this one is even longer than the last one. Don't get use to it. More characters and dark themes are coming up in the next chapter, so be prepared. Love the comments and kudos! ♡

Chapter VII: Sins of the Father

 

  Lily Potter paced the floors of her living room. It had been over twelve hours and still no sign of her only son. About an hour after Harry left, Lily called the Weasleys when she still didn't hear from him. When Molly answered the phone she informed Lily that Harry hadn't stopped by at all.

  That's when Lily began to call everyone she knew. James freaked out even more than her and he went straight home with both Sirius and Remus with him since they were they for the call. She then called the police and told them everything, fearing that whoever killed the Longbottoms now had her son.

  Minutes later the three men marched in the house and began shouting questions about what to do and who they think did this.

  Not much was accomplished for the first few hours.

  Now after twelve hours and no word or sight from Harry Potter, everyone began settle down and think it through. Dumbledore arrived a couple of hours after James and his friends came home. He did his best to comfort Lily and offered as much help as he could. Lily licked her lips, fingers continuously curling and uncurling.

  "Lily. . .dear please, sit down." She took a second to glance at her husband but continued her pace. "I know your worried, we are too, but stressing yourself out isn't going to help him."

  She finally paused and faced James. "In not worried, James, I'm bloody well terrified! You heard what those monsters did to Frank and Alice! And now they may well have my baby!"

  Remus jumped from his spot next to Sirius and held Lily as tears began to fall from her eyes. James hung his head and ran his hands through his hair. Sirius hadn't said anything since the news was brought up to him, too shocked to say anything really. Harry was, is, everything to him.

  A moment passed and Lily pulled away to dry her eyes. "I'm sorry, I'm just so scared."

  "And you have every right to be, my dear." Dumbledor stated after taking a sip from his cup of tea. "I understand it's hard to stay calm in this situation but you must, for Harry's stake. It may be crude to speak like this but if those same people who got the Longbottoms has Harry now, then he'd be dead and his body would've been found by now."

  Lily swallowed hard and turned away from the old man. As cruel as those words were, he was right. Which meant that there was a strong possibility that Harry was still alive; she needs to be strong and level headed, for him.

~•°•°•~

  There was a dull echo of a noise that woke Harry up. He wasn't sure what time it was but it felt as if he'd only slept three hours. The teenager groaned and forced his eyes opened, temporally forgetting where he was. As Harry rubbed his sore eyes he got up and walked over to the door to test out the handle. He was not surprised to find it still locked.

  "Seriously, why did I even try that?" He berated himself. Harry wondered what had woken him up and decided to press his ear against the door to listen. For a second it was quite, then a slam echoed, scaring Harry. "What the bloody-"

  Just as he took a step back the door suddenly flew open and on the other side was none other than Riddle. The older man raised a brow and stepped inside, forcing Harry back further into to room.

  "Good morning. I'm shocked to see you are up." Riddle drawled.

  Harry crossed his arm and sneered at the man. "I would've been if that noise hadn't woken me up. What are you doing here anyway?" Seeing this clean, sophisticated man in this crap chamber was new.

  "I came to see how the homework I gave you was coming along." His blue eyes scanned the room noting that one book was still on the table while the other two were piled at the edge of the cot. "So, got two out of the three finished? . . . That's two more than I expected from you, to be honest."

  Harry grounded his teeth and leaned his body against the wall. "So I'm better than you expected, is what you're getting at?" He asked with a smirk.

  Riddle's face didn't show anything he was thinking about. "Hmm, it can happen at times, I suppose. Though I wouldn't act too cocky for reading two books in one night." Riddle reached for the books on the bed before gathering the last one on the table. "Come, you earned a shower and a change of clothes too."

  "What about food?" Harry asked.

  "You will eat with me after you've showered. Now come along, it's going to be a long day for the both of us." The older man turned and left the room with all three books without another glance. Not wanting to pass up this opportunity the teen followed him, being much more careful about his surroundings.

~•°•°•~

  The several flight of stairs he had to climb was tedious and a bit straining, mostly since he hadn't eaten in twenty-four hours. Riddle seemed fine though Harry guessed the older man was use to it. The teen had guessed that they were climbing four stories, each having a long hallway with dim lightly that had to play with the scare factor. Riddle chucked at that but didn't deny Harry.

  After awhile they entered an elevator that only had two buttons, up or down. "I don't suppose you'll answer me if I ask where are we?" Green eyes glanced up at blue.

  Riddle seemed to pounder this and smirked. "Well, to be truthful, we're three-hundred feet underground. The elevator will take us topside." Huh, imagine that. They remained quiet as they rode up. Harry glanced around the small room and wondered how they managed to get him in here and down the stairs to that crap room. "Dolohov carried you over his shoulder when Rodolphus brought you here." The two stared at each other. "In case if that's what you were wondering."

  Bloody creep!

  It wasn't much longer until the elevator came to a stop and opened. This hallway was furnished with wood and wallpaper, pictures hung on the walls and there was a window at the end. Sunlight! That's a beautiful sight, Harry thought to himself. Riddle walked off, Harry following close, and made a left turn.

  "You may use whatever you need and when you are finished there will be breakfast ready. After you have eaten you'll finish the last journal and," Riddle paused as they came to a stop in front of a door with a crowned snake etched in the dark wood. "I will answer the questions you will have. Due try to hurry, I have a tight schedule and there is someone you'll want to meet this afternoon."

  Harry raised a eyebrow and opened the door, already deciding to take as long as he bloody wanted in the shower. Riddle walked off as he went inside the room. It reminded him of the office room that he visited yesterday but with two more windows, that was the difference. He glanced around and noticed another door to his left and guessed it was the washroom.

  Harry opened that door and felt his eyes widen at the decor; emerald, marble tiles, dark grey, stone walls that were obviously carefully carved flat. The sink and tub were made of black and white marble as well while the shower had glass walls, next to the shower was a silver towel rack with dark green towels. Someone really liked green.

  Shaking off his thoughts Harry carefully got undressed, not fully trusting that Riddle may or may not have hid a camera in here, and stepped into the shower. The water installing kicked off deliciously hot, making Harry moan in relief.

  After making sure that his body was clean from head to toe, taking as long as he wanted, he toweled off. His eyes snapped to the dirty clothes piled on the floor in a corner and frowned, there was no way in hell he was getting back in those clothes. Harry took a second to consider his options when a knock at the door caught his attention.

  He made sure the towel was secure around his waist when he cracked the door opened. A thin man who looked about Riddle's age smiled at Harry. "Hello, I'm Barty. The Lord wanted me to hand these over for you to use. They should fit just fine." More green Harry noticed.

  "Umm, thanks. . ." Barty continued to stare at Harry even after he took the clothes from him. "Are you gonna. . ."

  Barty's eyes widened. "Oh! I'm suppose to escort you to the breakfast room when you're ready."

  Ah, that made sense. The teen shut the door and quickly got dressed. He looked at himself in the mirror, hating how the green shirt match his eyes to the exact shade; but secretly liking it too. Harry glanced around for anything he might need but when he found nothing he shrugged and left the bathroom. Barty nodded and walked down the hallway, Harry following closely. He felt strangely both comfortable and uncomfortable being near this man, feeling unsure if he was safe with a man who had an air of violent tendency, despite his winning smile.

  Barty soon stopped in front of two glass doors and tilted his head towards Harry. "The Lord is waiting inside, you'll be served shortly." Harry nodded and opened the doors gently. The room opened up to an inclosed patio with a small table and Riddle sitting casually one of the white chairs. "My Lord, the young Potter boy is here."

  Riddle looked up and smirked at the two. "Took your time, did you? That will be all Barty." The thin man nodded and left while Harry cautiously walked towards the table.

  "Fancy place you have here." The teen remarked. Riddle gave a sly wink, making Harry falter only slightly, and motioned to the opposite chair.

  "Yes, inherited it from an old family. The food will be served shortly, sit." Doing what he was told, Harry sat down and leaned back, trying to get as far away from this man as possible. Barty came back a moment later pulling a trolly with him. He placed a kettle in the center on the table and two plates of hot cereal in front of them and sliced fruit on the sides. Once Barty was done he took the trolley with him and left Harry and Riddle alone once again.

  Harry watched as Riddle carefully poured himself a cup of tea before taking a grape. He wanted to stay stubborn and refuse to eat, but damn he was hungry. Harry sampled the hot cereal and found it was easy for his empty stomach to take. Then he wondered briefly if Riddle ordered this on purpose, but he quickly pushed that thought away.

  They ate silently until they were both full, Harry eating all of his food and three cups of tea. Riddle leaned back, finishing off his cup, and reached in his coat to pull out the last journal. "It should take you a few hours to finish this, by then we will be introducing you to a select handful of people."

  Harry raised a brow. "You've already told me this."

  "And, don't interrupt, if you feel like you still wish to go home, I will let you leave freely."

  Okay! That was new. "You are so sure that I'll be willing to stay, no matter who these people are? That's a dangerous attitude you have there." Harry remarked with his arms crossed, secretly hating how eager he was now.

  Riddle only chuckled. "Trust me, by the end of this day, you'll want nothing to do with your father. Now," Riddle smirked and stood up from his seat with his hand extended out to Harry. "Do we have a deal?"

  Harry was nervous, this deal was too lax, too many things could go wrong for him but what choice did he have. With a tight frown Harry stood too and grasped Riddle's hand. "Deal." The smile he got in return was deadly and promised the teen he would soon regret this.

~•°•°•~

      Journal 3, entry 1

  I don't know what to believe anymore, or if I should even continue to write this. It's not just children now, adults are developing the C.L. all over the country. Poor Lupin hasn't been eating or sleeping since this first started months ago. I sent Alice and Neville to visit Mother for a few months while this is going on. James sent Lily off too with their little Harry.

  Dumbledore seems determined that we were being targeted by Germany. That startled us all when he brought up his fears; claiming that rouge Nazis are making some kind of comeback. Ridiculous! I fear that he is still trapped in the days of war those years ago. That can't be healthy.

  Still, James had decided that testing needed to be done on everything these people had consumed or been near. This could take months or even years, if we can find something that is. The water supply and crop fields in the general areas are being investigated. It's a start.

  Lupin said he would start on blood work then go from there. I hope he can find something soon, my nerves twitch now thinking about how disastrous this can become.

  Dumbledore requested that this stays under-wraps for now. Too many things could go wrong if people freaked out now, so we all agreed to keep quiet. I'm not sure we can do that for long though, they say the fastest way to travel is by word of mouth.

~•°•°•~

  Harry blinked over the pages of the book at Riddle. They had relocated to a sitting room just down the hall from the breakfast room. The older male had yet to take his eyes off of Harry since he started reading.

  After taking a deep breath Harry flipped the page and continued.

~•°•°•~

      Journal 3, entry 2

  Four months and nothing so far. It's getting worse. Children are attacking the nurses and doctors, the hospital is full and now we have to move the unstable patients into a empty warehouse. It's a mess to make it plain and simple.

  Alice and Neville came back last week and although I've missed them so much, I wish they would stay away until this is all cleared up.

  Lupin changed his studies and now has begun to scan the brains, seeing if he can figure out why these people suddenly started developing C.L. . James and Sirius now have begun to take what Dumbledore said into consideration and looked into strange behavior around the country.

  It seems like everyone has a plan and I'm left to assist the residents and just. . .ignore the situation. I know there's nothing I can do anyway, but I still feel helpless.

~•°•°•~

      Journal 3, entry 3

  Remus made a breakthrough today! It's a pollin! Where or how these people contacted it I don't know but it's a start!

~•°•°•~

      Journal 3, entry 4

  A child was shot today at the warehouse. A little girl who got a hold of a nurse's wrist in her teeth was too out of control to subdue her, the guard had no choice. I cried when we were given the news. A little girl, eight years old, loved animals and wanted to fly, is now dead.

  I can tell Lupin blames himself, after ten months we haven't made much progress and now we're a bit desperate. How much longer can we last before we have to start killing more children?

  Days like this, I feel as if I've walked backwards into hell.

~•°•°•~

  Harry felt his eyes tingle with the need to cry but he wouldn't. He couldn't give that bastard sitting across from him the satisfaction, it's bad enough his hands were shaking slightly.

  He took a second to collect himself before continuing on, ignoring the heated stare Riddle was giving him.

~•°•°•~

      Journal 3, entry 5

  One year today since the first child was diagnosed with Clinical Lycanthropy. Twenty-seven deaths since then, nineteen children and eight adults; all of them which was from a bullet. We're losing nurses and doctors that are willing to treat these patients. Lupin seemed to age fifteen years in just one.

  The people of Britain are no longer safe either. Lower class citizens have varying effects of C.L., treatable for them. But the immigrants are not as lucky.

  They've began revolting, screaming at us that we were they ones killing their children, and they are right. James suggested that we start isolating these people and start doing tests on the already infected. I wanted to scream, curse at him for suggesting such a thing, but I couldn't.

  Such a bloody coward!

  Lupin was near in tears but agreed to it. Sirius had no words so Dumbledore declared that this was a time for drastic measures. Sirius and his team are going to collect those who suffer from C.L. and those who don't. I don't even wish to think about what those poor people are going through right now.

~•°•°•~

      Journal 3, entry 6

  We're going to hell. I refuse to acknowledge anymore of this devil's work that Dumbledore has planned. Children are dying, Lupin and Sirius have disappeared for the last week, and Greyback has decided to attack is directly. Thirty people were shot dead today, both our men and theirs.

  I. . .

~•°•°•~

  The rest of the page was torn out. Harry blinked and tried to force his frantically beating heart to calm itself.  He flipped through the rest of the pages and found them blank.

  "That was his last entry. I don't know what Frank Longbottom wrote on that last page but it must've been important." Green eyes slowly rose up to meet Riddle. "Such a shame we'll never know."

  Harry wanted to throw the book at his face, wanted to yell and scream at him for making him read this, but couldn't even find the energy to swallow back the bile that rested in the back of his throat.

  Riddle blinked and then stood up, making his way to Harry and gently taking the book from his shaky hands. "Horrifying isn't it?" Harry kept his stare even at him. "I suppose you'll want water. We have an hour to spend until our meeting with my friend, I will answer your questions as much as I can."

  Harry wasn't even sure if he wanted to know more or if he wanted to wake up from this nightmare. What happened? How did it all start? Why did it happen? Who was the cause of all of this? Where to even start asking?

  No, Harry did know where to start. "You're right about some things, Riddle. I do have questions." The older man, still standing, tilted his head slightly. "I want to ask the who, what, when, where and why's; but there's been one question on my mind since I've been here. Why did you drag me into this?"

 


	8. Chapter 8

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Heya, sorry (again) about the lack of updates. Yes in alive but during this tune of the year I have a lot of birthdays, holiday parties and even a couple weddings to see. It surprisingly takes up a lot of time. I decided to create the whole Clinical Lycanthropy story as a separate story since it was was too bloody long to put into one chapter. 
> 
> It's probably going to be a sequel and more details will be given later on when I get my shit together. Anyway, enjoy~

Chapter VII: The Den of Beasts 

 

  The room was surprisingly easy to breath in. Riddle's smirk never wavered as he held Harry's gaze. "That, right there, is why I wanted to show you the truth. You're smart, you catch the little details, you see the bigger picture." Riddle paused and raised his hand so his fingers gently rested on his own cheek. "You remind me. . .of, well, me."

  And wasn't that mildly disturbing. "So what's your point? We think alike? I'm not buying that." Harry quickly shot down. To be honest, Harry was scared if what the older man said was true. If he was similar to Tom Riddle, then is this what he could become? "Just give me a bloody, simple answer for once."

  Riddle hummed and crossed his arms over his chest. "A simple answer? Very well then," he went towards the door and knocked twice. "I want you to help me take over the government." Then the door opened with Barty smiling on the other side.

  "Wait, what?" Well, that certainly was an honest answer; which shouldn't surprise Harry all that much. "Why, in God's name, do you think I would ever willingly help you do such a thing?! It's mad!"

  Barty glanced between the two before facing Riddle completely. "The guests are ready for your appearance. Everyone is now waiting for you and the boy."

  "Very good. Come, Harry, you'll get your answers by the end of the day. And, if you so choose, you may leave with your answers as well." Taking a second to give Harry one more smirk, Riddle left the room, Harry and Barty following only a few feet behind.

~•°•°•~

    Harry never liked the quiet for as long ad he could remember. Barty followed Riddle until they reached a large door that shook gently a few times, creeping Harry out just a little bit. Barty opened the door with some kind of a key and sent a apologetic look to the both of them. "My apologies, my Lord, it seems your guests couldn't keep themselves in check."

  Harry cocked his head a the strange man and Riddle just chuckled. "I had already anticipated this, can't really expect anything else for this group." Now Harry was really confused. "The room is soundproof, mostly so my personal worker don't have to continuously hear the wolves entertaining themselves." Again with the mind reading. Harry just gave Riddle a dirty look and stared back at the door.

  Barty waited a second before slowly opening it, the three of them all cringing at the instantaneous shouts and cheering coming from the other side. The room was about as big as the school's cafeteria but every inch of space seemed to be used up by a cheering body. They had their backs turned to them and were shaking their fists in the air, almost like animals.

  Harry felt wary of getting any where near them when he felt a warm hand on the small of his back that sent heavy shivers up his spine. "Keep close to me or you might get trampled on!" Riddle shouted over the crowd. He didn't want to but Harry knew he had no choice. He reached over to grip Riddle tightly, possibly hearing a deep laugh coming from the older man but refused to think much on it.

  Riddle led on, keeping close to Harry, as he pushes through the heavy bodies. They were pushed and knocked together a few times but it wasn't too bad. After awhile they found a break and stepped into an open area. Standing there were four men of different levels of stupidly large and tossing each other around. Two of them were dark-haired, one was blond, and the biggest of the four was grey-haired. And that was when it clicked for Harry.

  "Greyback?!" Shouted towards Riddle. The older man just smiled with a gleam in his blue eyes. Riddle looked towards the fighters and gave a sharp whistle that made everyone in the room flinch. The fighters paused and faced Riddle, sweat and blood rolling down their faces.

  The biggest male, who Harry figured has to be Greyback from the Longbottom's journals, gave them a dirty look. Riddle stepped forward, dragging Harry with him, and approached the bloody men. Greyback narrowed his eyes at Harry and gave Riddle a disgruntled glance. "He's a bit young for ya, isn't he?"

  Harry choked on his own air while Riddle just rolled his eyes. "Please, as if I would ever bring a whore for you to meet. This, is Harry Potter." The room instantly fell into a deep chill.

  Greyback licked his lips and crossed his arms. "What are you planning to do with Potter jr. ?"

  "He knows part of what happened those years ago." Riddle cut in. "It's time for us to show the ugly truth to the world, and it starts with Harry."

~•°•°•~

  The crowd had mostly planted themselves on the floor while a small handful leaned against the wall. Barty chose to stay by the door while Riddle and Harry stood in front of Greyback. The big male never took his sharp eyes off of Harry while everyone got comfortable. Harry felt, for lack of better terms, like a sheep in a wolf's den.

  Riddle reached over to place a hand on Harry but the boy was quicker and leaned away from him, causing Greyback to laugh. "Don't care much for 'im do ya?"

  "I'm fully aware that I'm not with anybody I can trust." Harry replied. Greyback just smirked. The teen sucked in a deep breath and clenched his shaking hands together before facing the large-sized man. "Something happened all those years ago. . .something terrible. I-I need to know, what did my father do? What did my family do?"

  Greyback gave a silent snarl and stole a quick glance a Riddle. "Ya sure about this?"

  "I'm not going to lie and say I won't gain anything from this experience. But, the boy has every right to know the skeletons his own father is hiding in his closet."

  Harry ignored Riddle and kept his full attention on the beast of a man in front of him. "I'm not completely blind to what you've experienced. Remus Lupin is practically my uncle, I care for him no matter what had happened to him. But I need to know the full story, please. What did my dad do to your people?"

  Harry had caught Greyback's full attention when he mentioned Remus. The older man's eyes gave a small gleam of recognition of the name. There was a short moment where Harry was silent and debating on demanding answers when the beast finally spoke.

  "It ain't gonna be a pretty story boy. But if ya really want to know then shut up and don't interrupt me 'cause I ain't gonna stop once I get going" Harry nodded and ignored the warmth that Riddle was giving at his side.

~•°•°•~

  Bam! Harry barely flinched when his fist slammed into the wall of the office room that Riddle escorted them back into. The teen dropped his head on the cool wall and struggled not continue pounding with his hurt hand. Six hours it had taken Greyback to tell the story of the laboratory he was chained in.

  With Remus Lupin as his doctor.

  Fuck, Harry just wanted to completely bleach-wash the last few days from his memory.

  "I'm surprised that he hesitated with telling you about some of the gory details. Usually he wouldn't care if it would put you in a mental hospital. He must like you a little bit." Riddle remarked as he poured a glass of scotch.

  He had to be kidding though, right? There was nothing censored at any part of that whole story! Bloody hell, he just might be sick all over the floor.

  "Take a deep breath through your nose, slowly Potter." He really hated him. "Take a seat before you keel over." Regardless of trying to assassinate the man with his mind, Harry did fall into his own seat. They spent a moment of just staring at each other until the teen felt a strange pressure sliding up his leg. "Ah, there you are Nagini."

  Fuck, the snake.

  "Please get her off of me." He managed to strain out as the oversized luggage bag wormed her way into his lap.

  Riddle, the bastard, rolled his eyes and reached to collect Nagini and draped her over his shoulders. "Since we have missed lunch we'll be having an early dinner tonight," he paused with a sharp, knowing look in his eyes, "that is, if you wish to stay."

  Harry found himself swallowing hard and fought himself to not claw at the leather arms of his seat. He knew one thing, he couldn't ever look at his father the same way ever again. Though he did miss Mum.

  "I want to make a call." Riddle raised a dark brow and Harry continued before he could interrupt. "I don't care if you're in the room with me, but I need to make a call. Please." He added, trying to appease the older man. Minutes went by until Riddle hummed.

  "I suspect that this call is for your parents?" Harry nodded. "I see, very well." Harry shot out of his seat and nearly ran over to the telephone sitting innocently on the desk only feet away from the man and his snake.

  The teen wasted no time dialing the number to his home, his fingers gripping the the phone hard as he listened to the dial tone.

  " **Hello**?"

  Green eyes closed at his mother's soft voice. "Mum?" There was only a split second of silence before her voice rang in his ear.

  " **Harry**?! **Son, where are you**?! **Are you hurt**? **What happened**? **Who took you**?"

  Harry smiled so wide it hurt his cheeks. "Mum, I'm fine, I'm not hurt at all."

  " **Where are** **you**? **Harry, how are you able to contact us**?"

  Before she could go on Harry interrupted her. "Mum listen, I was allowed a phone call and I'm not surprised if I have limited time so please relax." Stealing a glance at Riddle, he knew the older man would cut off the phone call whenever he pleased at the smirk Riddle was wearing. "Mum I'm fine, could you put Dad on the line?"

  It was quite for the moment then Harry heard his father's voice filtering in.

  " **Harry**?"

  "Dad, before you go through the same questions Mum had recited, let me tell you I'm fine, I don't know where I am, or who took me." Which that last part wasn't a complete lie; Harry really didn't know who had originally snatched him. "I got a question for you." He listened for his father's breathing and the distant echo of over voices through the phone.

  " **Okay, Harry. . .what is your question**?"

  Harry took a deep breath. "Those refugee children that were suffering from Clinical Lycanthropy; did you, or did you not place a 'kill all' target on them?" It was dead silent on the other end.

  " **Where did you hear that**?"

  "Answer the question Dad, did you? Did you put an order to kill all of those kids?!" The teen knew he was shaking again but he couldn't be bothered.

  " **Harry, listen to me, it wasn't that simple. They were far to gone to save, we were doing them a favor** -"

  "A favor?! You killed innocent children! And what about Remus?! You didn't put a target on his head!"

  " **What**? **Are you saying you want Remus dead**?!"

  "No you bloody idiot! I love him, I'm saying you're a fucking hypocrite! Those kids didn't mean anything to you but Remus is your best friend so you couldn't kill him. Was Sirius part of that too?" At the lengthened silence Harry had his answers. "I can't fucking believe this, my dad and Godfather are child murders just because you didn't want to deal with sick refugee children! Bad publicity I bet. How could you?!"

  " **Harry, you don't understand the full story. There were other factors, people were at risk**."

  The strong sting of tears were threatening to leak through his closed eyes. He couldn't believe his own father would do such a horrible thing. How could he even sleep at night? "I don't want to hear it. I already got the full story from someone else. I. . .I just can't see you right now. Tell Mum I love her." He hung up before his father could protest.

  Green eye stared at the wall in front of him, ignoring the wet trails of tears that began to soak his shirt collar around his neck. Damn, Riddle. This was all his fault.

  "I suppose you're hungry now? Do you wish to clean up now or do you need a few minutes?" Harry fought to keep the sneer and snappy remarks to himself.

  "I'll get cleaned up now. And I want a new shirt." He turned to face the older man with a stone expression. It was clear that Riddle wasn't approving of Harry's demands but seemed to let it go.

  "Very well. I assume you remember your way to the washroom. Barty will have a new set of clothes for you when you are done." Riddle stood, forcing Nagini to slither on the floor. "And since you've decided to stay, of your own free will I might add, I will show you your new rooms after dinner. Since they'll be next to mine." He finished with a devil's smirk.

  Damn him.

 

 


	9. Chapter 9

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> I know, I know. There really is no excuse for my extended absence, I was mostly just lazy. Some more plot is happening and I should be adding the next chapter soon enough.   
>  Not gonna even try timing myself, it only ends badly. Feed me kudos plz~

Chapter IX: The Blood is Just Spilling

 

  The rest of the day had gone in a blur for Harry after his one phone call. He showered, got new clothes, and attended dinner with Riddle, begrudgingly. After that Riddle led Harry upstairs to the Master Bedroom and had shown the teen the separate room just across from his. The bastard had the nerve to even give Harry a filthy wink when he invited Harry into his room if he 'need a bit of comfort from his long day.'

  In which Harry responded with a simple,

  "Fuck you, very much."

  And quickly ran to his room before Riddle could snap himself out of his shock and respond back with something even more perverted.

  So Harry counted it a win for him.

  Next morning Harry was once again confused as to where he was until the memories flooded back, souring his mood in a flash. He got out of the stupidly soft bed and curiously looked through the dresser drawers and was only slightly surprised to see it fully stocked with shirts, trousers and anything else he could possibly wear.

  "I swear, if these are my sizes I'm going to give a shiner to that puzzle pervert." Harry grumbled to himself and felt a small smile grow. Puzzle pervert, he's gotta remember that one for later use.

  Deciding to forgo a shower since he cleaned up twice yesterday, Harry finished off the rest of his morning routine and found himself planting his arse back on the bed. Should he go to the gazebo or wait? It stupidly made him nervous about behaving, he had already pushed he luck enough yesterday.

  "Potter? Are you awake yet?" Recognizing Barty's voice Harry jumped up and went to open the door.  The thin man smiled and clapped his hands. "Goody! Already dressed! Come along, the Lord has a long day ahead of him and he wants you to join him."

  Tilting his head, Harry followed Barty down the hall. "What's going on today? What about Greyback?"

  Barty waved him off. "Greyback has work to finish for our Lord. We'll be meeting up with a close friend of our Lord for lunch later so be prepared."

  "Close friend? Who?" It was hard to believe that Riddle would even have friends.

  "The Malfoys' of course, along with the last remaining Lestranges'. Let's go!" Harry cringed at Barty's excitement but couldn't find it in himself to hate the guy for it. He was just generally happy.

  "Alright, let's go then."

~•°•°•~

  The ride in the limousine was tense for some reason. When Harry spotted Riddle standing next to the car outside he barely had enough time to soak in the sun for the first time in days before Riddle snarled at him to get in the car. That was going on three hours ago, and Harry was starting to get hungry.

  Nobody had whispered a word during this time, the air so thick Harry was beginning to feel faint. Barty glanced at Riddle and Harry from the driver seat before looking back to the road. Harry prayed that the man, for once, kept his mouth shut.

  "I don't think the Potter boy has eaten yet my Lord." Damn him!

  Harry felt the hot stare of Riddle's cold eyes sudden snap to him. A moment of silence lingured until Riddle shifted in his seat. "We're only moments away from Malfoy Manner. He can wait to eat when we get there."

  Well something crawled up his arse and died. Barty nodded and kept driving, the air going back to it's previous heaviness. Although Riddle was right, about ten minutes later and they were pulling into a long driveway to a stupidly large house. Harry was well aware of how rich his own family was but they never showed it off in such a manner.

  "Must be compensating quite a bit," Harry whispered to himself. Unfortunately, the teen didn't get a chance to see Riddle smirk in his direction while Harry continued to stare out the window. Soon enough they were parked and Barty ran around to open the door. Riddle swiftly stepped out and turned back with a hand extended and a mischievous smile.

  Harry but his lip and found himself accepting the offered hand, surprising both of them.

  "Good morning, we didn't expect you to arrive so early, my Lord." Feet away from the parked car was a tall man with long, blond hair and a thick cane. His whole demeanor yelled 'Holier than thou!'

  Harry nodded to himself. "Yep, definitely compensating." Riddle cough into his fist and strolled over to the blond man.

  "Lucius, my friend, it's good to see you. My apologies, I wished to get our work done sooner." Riddle turned to Harry and pulled the teen closer, choosing to ignore the teen's grumbling. "This will be our new addition soon enough. I introduce to you, Harry Potter."

  Harry had to admit, seeing the blond man's eyes widen so quickly was pretty funny.

~•°•°•~

  The tea was warm but a bit too bland for his liking. Harry considered the reactions he would get if he poured his tea into the creamer and just drink it like that, but his logical brain told him that pissing off Riddle like that will only leave to some scary consequences. 

  So Harry elected to ignore his tea and stare at Lucius instead.

  When the blond recovered from his stupor, he invited the three of them for tea in his drawing room while he summoned his wife and his other guests. Now they need to only wait.

  Harry felt the need to pull his hair out with the silence.

  "Father, Mother said you had," a teen, with the matching blond hair, had walked in seconds later. He froze when he saw Riddle next to Harry and turned back to Lucius. "Shall I. . .keep to my rooms today?"

  Before Lucius could answer his son Riddle piped in. "Not at all, come in Draco. There's someone I would like you to meet. This is Harry Potter. Harry, this is Draco Malfoy."

  Draco tugged slightly at his shirt cuffs and nodded his head towards Harry. "A pleasure to meet you."

  Harry raised a brow at Riddle then turned back to the other teen. "Sure." Draco narrowed his eyes at Harry's unimpressed tone and stepped over to his father. The room went silent again for a moment as Riddle took a sip of his tea. The other teen shifted nervously on his feet and kept his eyes on Harry, like he was the one needed to be watched.

  The sound of fast steps rung outside the doors and a loud shriek. "You made us late for our Lord you overrated chimpanzee!"

  "Woman! Lady off my red hair damn it!"

  Harry glanced at Riddle but he seemed to ignore everything around him. When the door opened Harry recognized two of the four people strolling in. One woman with golden hair and a pinched expression walked straight to Lucius and gave Riddle a short bow. "Hello again, it has been too long." In which Harry mentally translated it to, 'Bloody hell, it's you again, why can't you fuck off'.

"Narcissa, you look lovely today," came the effortless reply. "Rodolphus, Rabastan, Bellatrix, I trust you have what I expected."

As Riddle sipped his tea, the younger red-head pulled out a computer and placed it on the small table before Riddle. "This everything we found, my Lord. The Rat seems to be good for something after all."

Harry got curious and leaned over slightly to glance at the screen. There were a few open drafts and a picture of an old man that resembled a lot like Riddle. Before the teen could read one sentence, Riddle took the laptop and sneered towards Harry. "In due time, Harry. How about you and Draco run off to get more comfortable with one another?"

Somehow that didn't sound like a question. Harry narrowed his eyes at Riddle and crossed his arms. "I still haven't eaten yet." The arsehole chuckled.

"That's true," he then turned to Lucius. "Will it be alright for your staff to provide Harry a small meal? It is closer to the afternoon so lunch should be soon enough." The blond gave a quick nod and shot his son a meaningful look.

Draco nodded and strode to the doors. "Follow me, Mr. Potter. The kitchens is just down the hall."

Green eyes flickered to Riddle before Harry reluctantly followed the blond boy. He wasn't comfortable leaving and going somewhere without a little protection, especially in a place full of murders. But, being as prideful as he was, Harry sucked up his courage and left the room, and Riddle behind.

~•°•°•~

Draco, or the ferret as Harry will now dub him by, was a complete and utter prat. Within minutes of being alone together after Harry snacked on small sandwiches and cookies had the blasted ferret bragging and raving how his daddy bought him this, or was the owner of that. It was near enough that Harry wanted to bash his head against the corridor wall. Draco had then tried to lead them off to some fancy part of the house, far away from Riddle and the rest, and couldn't seem to find it in himself to shut up.

"It's rude to ignore someone when they are talking to you. Hey, Potter. . . Potter!" The teen jumped and frowned at the blond. "Now that I have your attention-"

"Nope, can't do this anymore. I wonder what I did to Riddle to earn this kind of punishment." Harry shook his head and backtracked the way they came, planning on finding the bastard and hopefully get him out of here. "It feels like I've been listening to you run your mouth for days. Can't take it anymore." Even Ron wasn't this bad.

Oh, how much he missed Ron and Hermione.

"Dear lord you are rude." The ferret muttered.

Harry turned so he was facing Draco while walking backwards. "Pot, meet kettle." He was quickly rewarded with a nasty sneer. Turning back around, Harry managed to make his way through a few hallways before stopping at the end and faced an old portrait of a man and a woman. "Okay, I'll admit. I'm lost, where the bloody hell are we?"

The other teen snickered. "Turning right will lead us to the gardens. Turning left will take us back to the kitchens."

Harry nodded, "Left it is then." Then continued moving on. He had to admit that the place was beautiful and seemed to stick to a theme of green and silver. This is probably where Riddle got his interior decorating ideas from.

"Potter, do you know what Father and Lord Riddle are speaking about?" Both boys stopped near a window. Harry scrunched his brows and ran his fingers through his hair.

"Will it be too hopeful to think maybe they are discussing new lounge chairs and color themes?" Draco was clearly not impressed with his arms crossed and the ever present sneer on his face. Which was terrible because clearly Harry was hilarious. "Right, um, to be completely honest I'm not sure. It might be something about my dad or the Longbottoms. I was taken only days ago. Yesterday was my sixteenth birthday, I'm not fully comprehending what Riddle is trying to achieve."

Which was true, all Harry knew was that Riddle figured that Harry would be key role in winning something.

The blond boy gave a short nod and led on, Harry following a few paces behind. Green eyes could see that Draco was tense and unnerved. "Do you have an idea of what is going on?" Minutes went by in silence and Harry figured the boy wasn't going to answer until he saw the familiar doors that led to the kitchen.

"Dumbledore." Harry froze and looked over to the other teen.

"What?"

Grey eyes met Green. "Lord Riddle, he wants to find a way to get rid of Dumbledore," the silence stretched. "I don't know how. . .but I've seen and heard the hatred Lord Riddle has for him. I think that is what he's trying to accomplish."

Without another word, the blond ferret opened the door and walked in. Harry bit his lip and fought against the shivers in his spine.

Why Dumbledore?

"I'm gonna guess that you don't know anything else about Dumbledore and Riddle."

"That's about it, yes. Now hurry it up since you're so eager to see the Lord again." That seemed to be all the blond prat was willing to spill; which was more knowledge than he had before, truth be told. But it still didn't add up.

What had Dumbledore done that pissed Tom Riddle off so much that he worked hard to collect a group of murderers, with questionable sanity, and kidnap a teenager who knew very little of Dumbledore personally? And what could Harry do that could possibly change the whole outcome so much?

Argh! Harry needed another cookie.

  


	10. Chapter X

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Heya, I'm back. Not quite as soon as I would've liked but not to bad, if I may say so myself. A quick warning of a little dirty, private Harry time. It wasn't in the original draft but it felt right to add a little of it in there. 
> 
> Anyhow, enjoy and feed me more kudos please! They keep me alive lol~

Chapter X: Riddle does not make Good Company

 

  So meeting up with Riddle again wasn't such a good idea. The man was at least twice as grumpy now, even as they ate some fishy dish for lunch. The brows were tightly pinched together and his spine as stiff as a brick wall. Harry was wise enough to keep any and all comments to himself ever since he and Draco returned.

  It was nearing two in the afternoon when Riddle announced that they were leaving, taking the red-heads and miss psychopath with them. As they were piling into the car Harry glanced back towards the Malfoy family as they wisely kept their distance and stood closer to their doors than the car and frowned. He didn't get a chance to speak more with the blond ferret, though the chances of getting anything else out of the teen were slim to none; he still had a few questions.

  "Come along kiddy! Time to go home!" Bellatrix cackled. Rodolphus had already made himself comfortable closer to the driver part of the car. His brother, Rabastan, as Harry learned over lunch, was sitting up front with Barty and were whispering to themselves.

  The teen frowned at the crazy woman and looked over to Draco one more time before getting in and keeping as far away distance from Bellatrix as he could. Unfortunately, that meant sitting right next to Riddle, for three hours.

  "I want immediate updates as soon as you hear anything knew. I don't care what it is, we must acknowledge all possibilities." Lucius nodded and said his farewell. When Riddle finally got in the car it instantly drove off and down the driveway. Riddle didn't seem to notice Harry sitting right next to him for awhile and that was just fine.

  It stayed quiet, more comfortable than earlier today, but Harry wasn't going to complain. Within the first hour Harry felt drozy and fought his tired eyes from drooping but eventually lost and let sleep wash over him.

~•°•°•~

  Awareness came to Harry slowly when he felt his body shifting briefly. There was a moment where he debated going back to sleep but when he felt fingers run through his hair and down his neck so softly, he forced himself to wake up. Holding back a yawn, Harry glanced over his shoulder to see the large, pale hand linger on his neck. Green eyes followed the attached arm and was not surprised to see Riddle giving Harry a heated look.

  Harry may not be surprised, but he was still mildly creeped out.

  "Do I even want to know what is going through that overly large head of yours? You know what, don't answer that." The teen reached over and lightly shoved the older man's arm off of him. "Where are we anyway?" Out the window showed a small town only minutes away.

  Riddle gave a dark grin in the window's reflection. "This town has been around for hundreds of years, mostly detached from the modern world but not enough to be completely uncivilized." Harry saw that Bellatrix was cleaning a small gun with a strange glee in the corner of his eye. She motioned to Rodolphus and he leaned back to whisper to Barty and his younger brother up front. "They are going on a few errands, while we," here Riddle leaned closer to Harry so his front was almost pressing against the teen's back. Just enough to feel his body heat through layers of clothing. "We are going sight seeing. Stroll through the streets, maybe stop to have some tea."

  Harry will never admit it, to anyone or anything, that Riddle's presence was sending a thrill through his body, forcing his heart to race. "Yeah, I'd much rather stay in the car instead of being an accomplice to murder."

  The crazy bitch laughed. "Oh? Are you talking about these little things?" Then she began to twirl the gun between her fingers while giggling. "Lil' 'Arry Potter, scared of a little fun."

  "They are meant to intimidate and strike fear into who we want." Rodolphus added in. Which made Harry a little nervous, since the man rarely ever speaks anyways. "Besides, it's not the right time of day to remove anyone." He then shrugged and finished doing whatever he was doing with the crazy next to him.

  Harry slowly took a breath of air through his nose to calm himself down. Theses people were the worst kinds, just talking about ending a life without any remorse. The green-eyed boy didn't know how anyone could be so heartless.

  Riddle had moved back to his seat moments ago but kept close to Harry as much as he could without physically touching him. "We will be arriving shortly. I want you four to be quick and don't linger, no point of staying too long anyway. Call me if anything new comes up or else just get the job done. Meet back at the car by the time the sun sets. Clear?" The four nodded as Barty parked the car on a side road near a Bed 'N Breakfast.

  The teen noticed that the sun was already heading towards the mountains and guessed that these people only had two, maybe three hours before the sun would be gone from sight. To be honest, Harry was more than just curious to what they were planning but knew better than to ask questions. As they left the car Riddle removed his blazer so that his dark shirt was showing, looking a bit more casual.

  The older man held out a hand to Harry and licked his lips. "Come along now, Harry. . . There is much to see."

~•°•°•~

  The nameless town would be a wonderful place if everyone would stop giving Harry and Riddle distrustful sneers and death glares. Harry was sure that Riddle has visited this town once or twice. God only knows what for.

  They strolled down the streets, giving everyone plenty of space, and were strangely enough, shopping. "Ah, what lovely jewellery. Wouldn't you say so, Harry?" Said boy felt his left eye twitch a bit.

  "I guess, not much of an. . .ah, admirer myself." This was the third shop they had walking into and so far they had bought a red, leather bag, several books on the history of the town that are now in the leather bag, a blown glass figurine of a large, green snake that was about the size of his head, and one bottle of old brandy.  And yes, Harry did have to carry it all.  "To be honest, Riddle, you don't seem much like a jewellery person either." He remarked as he adjusted the heavy bag on his shoulder.

  Riddle chuckled and rubbed his chin while still gazing the displays. "You are correct, I am not. But sometimes the right piece will come at you, and you will know." That sounded a bit dramatic.

  Harry rolled his eyes and glanced over the ring section that were overly polished with heavy, colorful rocks as centerpieces. Most looked pretty fake, but a couple looked real enough that an average woman could drool over. His shoulder ached with the weight of the books and brandy so he switched the bag over his other shoulder when something actually caught his eye.

  Sitting on a geode paperweight was a ring with no price tag. It was gold with a dark red stone and seemed to have a strange symbol carved on its face. A triangle with a circle within and a line drawn down from the tip. It was nothing that Harry had seen before, that was for sure. "Hey Riddle, what about this?"

  The man was over at his side in seconds. "Wonderful eye, Harry." One hand gripped his upper arm tight as he carefully picked the ring from Harry's hand. Riddle looked a bit too excited for this one piece of jewellery as he stared the red stone before snapping his intense, blue eyes at the teen. "I'm going to speak with the shop owner. Why don't you head back over to the car and wait for the others? This shouldn't take too long, and that bag does look heavy."

  Harry scoffed, who was Riddle trying to fool? "I'm not stupid, I know what you are trying to do." He groaned at the weight and adjusted his grip on the snake figurine. "You are lucky that this is stupidly heavy. No point in wasting breath on telling you to share the load now, I'm heading out. Don't take too long, I'm getting hungry again." The teen left after that and backtracked the way they came.

  It didn't take long to find the car, and there was Barty and Rabastan leaning against one side. Barty flashed a smile and opened the door for Harry to "carefully" drop the items on the seats. "Did you have fun?" The man asked. Harry leveled him with a glare and stretch his arms.

  The sun was just beginning to touch the mountains, shocking Harry of how much time had already gone by. "What time is it anyway?" He asked himself.

  Rabastan flocked his wrist briefly. "Ten till seven. We'll be back at the Manor by eight if we leave soon." Harry hummed and watched as Bellatrix and Rodolphus exited the restaurant with a few paper bags. "Ah, food for us then?" Bella nodded and ran back into the car, munching on whatever she got. Rodolphus handed Rabastan one bag before following after her.

  Harry raised a brow at them and Barty shrugged. "You'll most likely be having dinner with our Lord. This is for us."

  Damn.

  "Well he better hurry it up then." The teen mumbled and moved to lean against the car, ignoring the sounds of paper crumbling and chewing. It wasn't long until Riddle appeared with quick strides. Harry didn't even bother with snarking at the man and just got in. He was tired and hungry.

  "Debriefing will be at ten tonight, no later." Riddle announced as he followed Harry. The drive back was quicker than Harry expected and now, at exactly eight o'clock p.m., he was dining on chicken and pasta with only Riddle as company. Riddle had Barty take the bag and figurine to his room but kept the brandy with him. Harry wasn't quiet sure where the ring was, or even if Riddle got it at all. But it was too long of a day to bother pestering Riddle about it.

  The room was quiet, save for the occasional clink of plates and silverware. The food smelled spicy and exotic, easily satisfying Harry's previous hunger. Just about halfway through his plate Riddle cleared his throat in a way that clearly meant, "all eyes on me."

  Harry gave the older man an unimpressed look over his forked chicken.

  "I hoped you enjoyed your time with the Malfoys today. We will be expecting their company within a week." Riddle seemed to be gauging for Harry's reaction. The teen would not rise up to the challenge.

  "Their son is a ferret." He remarked, timing it just as Riddle was taking a sip from his drink. The man only smirked overt his glass at Harry. So apparently Riddle was expecting a remark.

  "I had a. . .similar thought when I first met young Draco years ago."

  "Pedo," Harry remarked under his breath.

  "Anyway, I had hope you two could become friends, since you'll be seeing each other frequently during this year." Harry wanted to cut in with a "What?!", but Riddle carried on. "Besides, it should be nice to be around another boy of your age."

  Well played. "Fine, don't expect me to paint his bloody nails or anything." Riddle smirked again before rising from his seat. "It's time to retire, come along." Harry couldn't argue since he did finish his plate so he followed Riddle up to their rooms. The teen tried to slip through the door without another incident but Riddle was faster. In a flash, Riddle seized Harry and pulled him to his chest with an arm secure around his waist. Puffs of hot air brushed against Harry's ear as heat soaked into his cheeks. "Sleep well, Harry." He pressed the teen just a bit closer as the boy began to give slight shivers. "Dream of me."

Harry growled and shoved against him, throwing his door open and charging through without even thinking of looking back. How dare he? The bastard! There was no point in denying that he was hard, he was a teenager, at it was a kind of hard that Harry knows from past experiences that it will not go away easily.

  Moments later, Harry was naked under the sheets with a spit-slicked palm gripping his hard length. He squeezed just right and slowly pumped his hand up and down, twisting his wrist as he reaches the tip. His other hand began to lazily rub a nipple, occasionally pinch and pull it gently so it was enough to give his tiny bursts of pleasure. Minutes went by and Harry soon began to thrust his hips up to his hand and rolled his head back to muffle his low moan into his pillow. He was already so close. Harry didn't want to drag his pleasure out any more than he usually does so he reached down to up his sac and massage it. Heat was stretching and growing at the pit of his stomach so Harry gripped himself a little tighter and pumped his cock faster. Beads of sweat broke upon his forehead and his heaving chest, gasps and low moans escaping from his parted lips. He groaned and bit his lip as his eyes tightly, closed shut. Shining, blue eyes and wicked, smirking lips appeared behind his eyes and that was it took for the teen to be brought to the edge.

  Harry's cock gave a small twitch before spurting on his fist with hot, milky fluids. Using a moment to catch his breath, Harry leaned back and soaked in the afterglow of his orgasm. He was half tempted to just fall asleep but the drying stickiness between his fingers and splotches on his chest warned him otherwise. Using the last of his energy, Harry quickly got up and went to his conjoined bathroom to wash and clean himself off. After a few minutes, Harry threw himself back in bed, refusing to think about what he just did; he'll deal with it in the morning.

Once Harry rolled under the covers he nearly forgot to cover himself up and dropped his head on the pillow. The teen was dead asleep in seconds.

 


End file.
